


guard your heart

by Ofloveandfire



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Marching Band, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, High School, M/M, Pining Lance (Voltron), angst because thats all hs is lbr, color guard captain lance, drum captain keith, drum major pidge, ill tag as i go - Freeform, lance pov, recreational kidnapping, trombone section leader hunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-18 17:03:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10621266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ofloveandfire/pseuds/Ofloveandfire
Summary: Get a load of this marching band au! this is a fun thing called projecting- taking my hs marching band experience and throwing in vld. This first chapter is more of an into, but i'm working on more so it shouln't be too long!





	1. start of summer band

**Author's Note:**

> Get a load of this marching band au! this is a fun thing called projecting- taking my hs marching band experience and throwing in vld. This first chapter is more of an into, but i'm working on more so it shouln't be too long!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer band has started for the last time. As his final year of high school looms ahead, will Lance finally be able to work up the courage to as out his long term crush?

_Clap, clap, clap, clap._ “Band, ten-hut!”

“Ten-hut!” the band echoed across the practice field, one voice as they all came to attention. It was only silent for a few seconds before Lance heard a clatter to his left. He sighed internally but held position. He could feel Pidge’s glare from above, even with his eyes forward. 

“At ease, take five guys. Lance, please get your team under control,” they shouted.

Lance dropped his flag so the base rested on the ground and turned to the rest of the color guard. “Alright girls, what happened?” he asked. 

One of the younger girls spoke up with a raised hand. “I-I dropped my flag” she answered with a shaking voice.

Lance sighed, “It’s okay, Meg, everyone makes mistakes.” he smirked as he sang the last bit. The team groaned in unison at his Hannah Montana reference, but what could he say? It was a good song. “Ok but seriously, everyone get to attention,” He commanded.

The girls all straightened and lifted their flags to attention, becoming still. Lance walked slowly down the line, adjusting arm positions and grips. When he got to Meg, he immediately identified the problem: “You need to raise you right hand higher on the pole; see where the tape is?” she nodded. “That’s your cheat sheet, remember? Also, keep you left hand right in front of your bellybutton; that will help you have control over the pole.” He continued down the line whispering corrections and praise before turning them at ease once more.

Lance turned towards the drum major stands to see if Pidge was waiting for them, but they were talking with Coran, so he turned instead to the drumline. Keith had taken off his snare and just had his carrier strapped on while he idly chatted with the quad player, his back facing Lance. They looked suddenly past Keith’s shoulder, smirking as they made eye contact with Lance; he quickly turned away, clearing his throat and walking towards the low brass in search of Hunk.

He wasn’t hard to spot being the large guy he is, so Lance rolled his flag and set it aside before taking a running start. Hunk barely even budged as Lance attached himself to his back, instead he turned his blinding smile in the vague direction of his shoulder where Lances head was resting. “Hey buddy! How’s the guard coming along?” Hunk asked.

“My team is amazing actually, thank you for asking!” Lance replied happily. 

“Lance!” The loud cry startling him, Lance let go of Hunk and toppled to the ground.

“Ouch, Pidge! You can’t just sneak up on a guy like that!” he exclaimed from the ground. Both Pidge and Hunk looking down to where he remained on the asphalt, sprawled out.  
“Lance, you know how many times I’ve told you not to do that. You could damage Hunk’s trombone, or you could break your wrist—then what will we do?” Pidge demanded.

“Aw, come on Pidge!” Lance whined, “You know Hunk is an immovable force! Plus, I only fell because _you_ scared me! And anyway, I’m fine.” Lance took Hunk’s outstretched hand and got to his feet while Pidge scowled at him. Slightly intimidated by the force of the glare, Lance turned back to Hunk with a smile. “So Hunk, how’s the section leader life treating you? Got any of the ladies flocking to you yet?” he gave Hunk a wink and a nudge of his elbow.

Hunk laughed in response, “Section leader life is great, man! I love getting to teach all these fishies the ropes of marching band.” 

“Alright nerds, break time is almost over get back to your spots” Pidge said.

“Ha! We’re the nerds, they say, the fourteen-year-old junior!” Lance laughed to Hunk. “If anyone is a nerd here, it’s you, my dear Pidgy.” He rubbed their hair before quickly taking a step out of the danger zone. Pidge silently flipped him off before they walked back to the drum major stand to resume practice. With a quick wave to Hunk, Lance sauntered back to his color guard, “Okay, okay, okay ladies! Now let’s get in formation!” he sang and he drew near, with a little dance to the amusement of anyone nearby. 

As he swooped down to gracefully grab his flag off the ground with a twirl, he looked once more towards the drumline and ended up locking eyes with none other than Keith, so of course he winked at him. Keith flushed—or maybe that was just the sun; it was late afternoon and they’d been out here a while—and turned away to pick up his snare to hook it back on himself. Lance sighed and moved to get back into his marching spot. He was sure he was just imagining things.

It’s been like that for a while with Keith: the lingering eye contact, the accidental hand touches… But all of it meant nothing. Keith, of course, would never like him back. Saying out of his league would be an understatement; Keith was in another universe. With his stupid soft dark brown hair, and his stupid eyes that seem to hold galaxies within them. Not to mention his sarcasm that could almost rival Pidge’s, and a laugh that could make time stand still. He was loved by everyone in the school, Lance included. As Lance stood waiting for Pidge to call them back to attention, he once again let his eyes linger towards Keith. He watched as he warmed back up, his arms flexing with each strike to the drum. He was so beautiful it was mesmerizing. 

The whistle snapped Lance out of his thoughts, signaling the bands attention back to Pidge in front of them. He halfheartedly listened to them explain what the next marching drill would be, his mind still drawn where he knew it shouldn’t be, but he was powerless when Keith was right there, slightly ahead of him in his line of vision.

_Clap, clap, clap, clap._ “Band, ten-hut!”

“Ten-hut!” Lance could hear Keith’s powerful shout among the bands yell. Once again he found himself sighing at the thought of Keith. _This is going to be a hard year._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ta da! there's the intro/chapter one! comments and kudos are greatly appreciated  
> I love me that sweet validation.


	2. The Kidnapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance exchanged a look, Lance raising one eyebrow in question. Keith just shrugged in return before turning back towards Hunk. 
> 
> “Calm down, okay?” Keith said, cutting Hunk off in his rambling. “Now can you please tell us what this ‘meeting’ is about?”
> 
> Hunk took a deep breath, a smile forming on his face. “Pidge has never been kidnapped.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so apparently, this was not a common band experience... but this is something that we did.  
> enjoy!

It was early, far before anyone would show up for practice. The sun had barely risen but here they were, having a secret meeting before the rest of the band showed up. Lance stood beside both Hunk and Keith, a little too close together in the uniform closet where they were hidden. From who, Lance had no idea.

“Okay guys, this is top secret. Absolutely nobody can tell or anybody else,” Hunk whispered to them.

“Hunk, why in the world are you whispering? We are literally the only people here,” Lance proclaimed loudly, disturbing the calm environment.

“Shh, Lance! Keep your voice down!” Hunk said, voice still soft. “You never know where they could be hiding, or if they planted some sort of creepy listening device somewhere! I swear I saw them sneaking around the band hall after yesterday’s practice…” He trailed off into conspiratorial muttering.

Keith and Lance exchanged a look, Lance raising one eyebrow in question. Keith just shrugged in return before turning back towards Hunk. 

“Calm down, okay?” Keith said, cutting Hunk off in his rambling. “Now can you please tell us what this ‘meeting’ is about?”

Hunk took a deep breath, a smile forming on his face. “Pidge has never been kidnapped.”

Keith looked perplexed, but Lance’s mouth dropped open with a gasp.

“You’re kidding!” He shouted, bouncing in excitement. How was it possible that they had managed to dodge the initiation ceremony? They did every year for the new freshman? _Oh right,_ Lance thought, _they had skipped a couple grades and had never even been considered a new recruit._

“What are you talking about? Wh-Why would they have been kidnapped?” Keith asked, a look of horror growing on his face. With a start, Lance realized that Keith had no idea what they were talking about. He hadn't been able to partake in the ceremony as a freshman; Shiro, a senior at the time, had planned to kidnap Keith, but his unexpected accident had landed him in the hospital. Keith stayed with him and missed the ritual.

_This truly is the band's best-kept secret,_ Lance thought with pride.

Lance turned quickly towards Keith and gripped his biceps, silently marveling at the strength. “Keith, I know you missed out on this crucial experience, but I’m gonna need your help if we’re gonna pull this off. You have now joined a death pact and you must never tell a soul about this event, got it?” 

Lance didn’t quite expect the proximity to be so close, and he was left staring into Keith’s eyes, noses inches from each other. Keith sucked in a breath, cheeks a soft pink, eyes widening a fraction before quietly letting it out. “I understand.”

Lance felt the air brush on his face and flushed slightly. He stepped back, dropping his arms, although he couldn’t move far in the confines of the closet. He cleared his throat and tried to recover. “Okay! Um, good! Yeah! Okay! Hunk, can you please explain to this poor boy the art of The Kidnapping?”

Hunk mischievously rubbed his hands together with a chuckle. “So here’s how it works: each member of the Leadership team gets a little brother or sister who they are in charge of. One night before practice we sneak in and take them. This is tricky because we need a lot of planning from both us and their parents. Then basically we just mess with them all night before rewarding them with breakfast before our actual practice. All clear?” Both he and Lance grinned eagerly at Keith, waiting for his reaction.

“Wow, I’m so glad I missed that,” Keith said, a little shocked.

“But do you see how amazing it is that somehow Pidge hasn’t been kidnapped? And they don’t even _know_ about it! This is far too perfect.” Lance was practically buzzing with excitement over this information.

“But…why did you need me specifically for this?” Keith questioned.

“Don’t you see?” Lance explained, “You and Pidge are close because of Shiro and Matt. And Matt will totally be in on this with us. Ohh, man is he gonna be so excited!” 

Keith had a smile growing as well, getting drawn in with the atmosphere and finally seeing what they are going to be able to do. “Oh yeah, I am definitely in,” he smirked.

Hunk pumped his first in the air with a cry of victory. “Okay! For this to work I’m teaming you both up, so I better get video of this.” Hunk declared.

“Aw yes!” Lance turned to Keith for a high five. Keith tried to hide his smile, but failed miserably as he reached up to hit his hand against Lance’s.

_This is going to be amazing,_ Lance smiled.

~

“Matt said he is in position, are you ready?”

“Yes, Lance. Are you?”

Keith and Lance were knelt down outside the Holt household dressed in all black, their backs against the wall, waiting for the window above them to open. They had spent the last week carefully planning this and now at 4:30 in the morning, the plan was in motion.

“Hell yeah, this is gonna be awesome.” Lance whispered. He turned to Keith, a broad smile on his face, only to find Keith already looking at him. Lance let his eyes roam over him with their close proximity. His hair was pushed back under the black beanie; the moonlight reflected off of his pale face, illuminating him. He looked like an angel. Lance cleared his throat, turning back to his phone after a moment with a slight blush. 

“So, yeah, okay! Let’s do this thing.” Lance forced out as the window above them cracked open. Lance put his go-pro securely on his head and switched it on to capture the whole event for Hunk. Matt’s head appeared out the window, smiling down at the boys.

Keith smiled at him. “Let’s go.” 

Since Lance was the tallest, he threaded his fingers together to give Keith a boost up to Matt. He disappeared through the window for a second before leaning back out to help Lance up. Lance reached up to grab onto Keith, jumping a bit and climbing his feet up the side of the house. He was pulled a little roughly through the window, slamming against Keith’s chest with an _oomph_. Still holding each other’s hands, their eyes met for a brief moment before Keith let go, turning towards Matt behind him. 

“Come on, their room is this way,” Matt whispered, bouncing on the balls of his feet.  
They crept through the dark house as quietly as possible. Lance reaches into his fanny pack and pulled out a small flashlight, switching it on so a dim beam shone down the hallway. Keith turned to him in confusion.

“ _Fanny packs,_ ” Lance mouthed with a wink. Keith let out a quiet, barely perceivable huff out laughter, turning back around to keep walking.

Matt tapped the wall next to their door quietly with a big smile as he stepped back to let them work. Pidge’s door had one of those yellow “do not enter” signs with hazard warning tape across it. _Of course they do._ Keith reached out to open their door, lock picked courtesy of Matt.

“Wait,” Lance whispered, grabbing Keith’s wrist to stop him. “get the stuff out first, we have to be ready.” 

Keith nodded, pulling his black backpack around. He reached in and pulled out the two bandanas that are rolled to about three inches wide—blindfold width. Lance opened his fanny pack again, pulling out a miniature spray bottle filled with water, smirking at Keith’s confused expression. They nod in unison, twisting the handle and creeping in.

Pidge was, as expected, asleep in their bed. Lance peered over them, letting out a quiet “ _aww_ ” before lifting his spray bottle and aiming for their face. He squirted three shots in quick succession. 

Pidge jerked into an upright position, opening their eyes to see Lance’s smiling face. 

“What the fu— “Lance clapped a hand over their shout as Keith secured the blindfold on them from behind. Pidge reached their hands up to grab at it, but Keith grabbed their wrists and tied them in front. Pidge continued cursing, their voice muffled by Lances hand still clamped over their mouth.

“Okay, I’m going to let go, so don’t shout or else,” Lance threatened, loosening his grip. He was met by an immediate shout from them, leading him to spray Pidge in the face several more times.

“Now what did I just tell you?” 

Keith was laughing behind Pidge at their distress. 

“Keith?” Pidge choked out in shock.

“Yep!” Keith replied before throwing them over his shoulder. 

“OH MY GOD, WHAT IS HAPPENING?” Pidge yelled as Keith and Lance ran out the room towards the back where Matt was holding the door open. 

As they ran past, Lance high-fived Matt and grabbed Pidge’s glasses from him with a wide smile. They raced to Keith’s car, a very angry Pidge pounding Keith’s back, spewing profanities at them.

Lance raced forward, opening the car door for Keith to carefully lower Pidge into, then slammed it shut as they both hopped into the front seats, laughing as Keith started the car. All in all, they were in and out in under three minutes.

Keith took off down the road, as Lance leaned back to make sure Pidge had their seatbelt on. As Lance settled back in his seat, he clicked the radio on where he had it preset to the loudest volume on the mariachi station. Laughing, Lance turned to smile at Keith, who glanced back as he lowered all the car windows.

They both were trying to catch their breath when Pidge started shouting again. “EXCUSE ME! YOU WANNA TELL ME WHAT IN THE HELL IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?” 

Lance turned back around and sprayed them more, in intervals. He leaned his head out the window and shouted to the dark sky while Keith drove them down the back roads.

He looked back to Keith, and took a moment to be captivated by his beauty. His hair was flying back, whipping in the wind and his face was alight with laughter and happiness. It was a rare moment to witness and Lance felt his breath punched out of him for a second as Keith looked to him before turning back to the road.

Keith reached over and turned the radio volume down, “So, Pidge, how’s your morning going?” 

Lance burst into a new fit of laughter as Pidge grumbled to themselves, settling down from their initial shock. 

“Can you at least tell me where we are going?”

“Weeelllll,” Lance said, dragging out the word, “we are taking you to the border, and we’re going to sell you for churros. I think we can get a good price.”

“Oh my god.” Keith sighed at Lance, who just grinned at him. 

They pulled into the practice field by the school, where the rest of the participating band members were waiting. 

“Where the fuck are we?” Pidge whispered to themself.

“What? Is your internal positioning system a little faulty back there?” Lanced smirked.

Pidge would have glared if they could, but the malice in their voice was unmistakable. “Maybe if you didn’t _blindfold_ me!” 

Keith and Lance snickered in the front seat as Keith cut the engine off. All the cars were in a wide circle with their headlight shining brightly. Keith got out but Lance stayed put, opening his car door and slamming it shut to trick Pidge while Keith moved around the car.

“What, you guys are just going to leave me in the car now?” Pidge cried out. 

Lance quietly lifted his spray bottle back up and ambushed them with water in a fit of laughter. They screeched at him as he finally hopped out of the car. Keith had Pidge’s door open and was helping them out as one might do with a convict. They took positions on either side and marched them out to the middle where the other freshman were huddled together. 

“Hey! You guys made it!” Hunk waved over to them. 

“Hunk! My buddy! Are we the last?” Lance shouted back.

“Yep! Let’s get this going!” 

“Whoop!” 

They each led their charge to a spot in the circle, spinning them around to each other. They each untied their hands with strict orders to leave the blindfold on. 

“Lance, would you like the honors?” Hunk suggested. 

“I have been looking forward to this moment my whole life,” Lance said eagerly, bouncing a little before readying himself by shaking his hands out. He cleared his throat before clapping four times in quick succession, “Band, ten-hut!”

It was almost Pavlovian the way they all immediately came to attention and repeated it back as one loud voice in the early morning. 

“Keith, it’s your turn now. You ready?” Lance grinned. 

Keith smiled back. “Oh, hell yeah. I was born ready.” He mimicked Lance’s earlier dramatics, shaking his hands out and clearing his throat. Clapping in the standard command form he gave the order, “Forward, Harch!” and stepped back to witness the chaos. 

The students marched straight into each other, colliding in confusion The Leadership team collapsed around in a fit of laughter. Lance threw his arm around Keith’s shoulders in support as he bent over in his fit. Keith stiffened for a brief moment before relaxing into Lance’s side, putting his arm around his waist to support himself in turn.

As some leaders told the younger ones they could take their blindfolds off, Keith and Lance stayed locked together smiling at the mess. Pidge stomped their way over to them looking dangerous, only to pull up short squinting a little only to raise their eyebrows up with a knowing smirk growing. They looked pointedly between them, and Lance realized just what position they were in with a yelp, pulling away. 

“Oh! Right! Um, yeah Pidge here are your glasses by the way,” Lance rushed out, pulling their glasses out from where they were hooked in his shirt. 

“Thanks,” Pidge drawled still smirking. 

“It’s a really good thing I got this all on video.” Lance pulled his go-pro off his head and switched it off, smiling sneakily. 

Pidge’s eyes widened a fraction. “You didn’t,” they whispered.

Lance leaned down close to whisper back, “Oh, but I did.”

Pidge launched at him grabbing for the camera. Lance lifted it over his head and cackled as he watched Pidge try to jump up to reach it. Eventually, they gave up and gripped onto his shirt, climbing up his body as if he were a tree. Lance yelped and tossed the evidence of the night’s events to Keith, who reflexively caught it, cradling the camera close to his body.

Lance hooked his arms under their legs, securely holding them as they gave up and limply threw their arms over his shoulders.

“Aww, it looks like our little Pidge is too sleepy to even fight. How sad is that?”

“Shut it, you lanky noodle. I haven’t even had any caffeine; you can’t blame me right now.” 

“Well, how about we go get you some then? A robot does need its fuel, right?”

Pidge perked up a little, “Really?”

“Yep! Come on Keith! To IHOP we go!” Lance declared as he raced towards the car with Pidge, Keith laughing as he followed closely behind.

~

Everyone seemed content, watching the sun rise over pancakes and coffee. 

Hunk opted to sit with his section, claiming he owed it to them after stealing them away in the night. That left their little trio to the end of the table, Pidge on the end while Keith and Lance sat across from one another. Pidge’s anger had diminished with the knowledge that they weren’t going to have to pay for the meal, and Keith and Lance swapped pancakes halfway through to try each other’s. 

As Lance ate and laughed with his friends, he looked back on the morning’s events and couldn’t stop the bubby joy that filled him. In the light of the morning sun, he was bursting with happiness, and he looked over the rim of his cup to see Keith smiling brightly back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was clearly explained:)  
> please,,, kudos and comments keep me alive<3
> 
> Follow my tumblr here [(x)](http://www.we-end-in-croatoan.tumblr.com)  
> ao3 tumb [(x)](http://www.ofloveandfire.tumblr.com)  
> and ciel the most amazing person in the world who helps me edit my trash [(x)](http://starryklance.tumblr.com/post/:id/:summary)

**Author's Note:**

> ta da! there's the intro/chapter one! comments and kudos are greatly appreciated  
> I love me that sweet validation.  
> the [tumblr](http://www.ofloveandfire.tumblr.com) for my writings  
> 


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